In Conversation with the Stars by Anupama Chopra

I received the book In Conversation with the Stars by Anupama Chopra as a review copy from the publisher and am thankful to them for the same.

The blurb:

In Conversation with the Stars is an extraordinary collection of curated interviews with some of the key figures of Hindi cinema. The artists discuss the art and craft of films on the Film Companion platform. In each of the interactions, film critic Anupama Chopra deep dives into what makes an artist— from Shah Rukh Khan to Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma to Priyanka Chopra—tick, providing a window into the people behind the larger-than-life persona. Through wide-ranging and in-depth discussions that make for a rich reading experience, these conversations also reveal how each of them grapple with both success and failure, and what it really means to be in the spotlight. This is a sparkling look into the lives and work of some of the most glittering stars of Indian cinema.

My take:

Anupama Chopra is a film journalist turned film critic who has a website Film Companion. This book is a collection of transcripts of interviews that Anupama Chopra had done with the stars. So once I started reading the book, it took me some time to get the feel of the book. And then I felt that these interviews were being conducted before me and I was one of the audiences. Another way to make the book interesting was to see a bit of the interview on the website and then start reading it.

This is one book that can be read in any order, I started with Ranveer Singh, and then went on to read Abhishek Bachchan and so on. The best part of the book is that the questions are not repetitive (I had once done interviews of authors on my blog and preparing the questions was the toughest part, and I did end up repeating them). And the other is the flow of the conversation. There are photographs which make the interview more interesting.

Her background makes it easy to approach the stars and also helps in the comfort levels between her and the stars. Not to mention her experience in the industry.

Overall, I found this book to be interesting and easy to read.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in return for my honest review. I have NOT received any monetary compensation for the same.